As initially reported by Wendy Fox-Grage with AARP, financial exploitation is a major form of elder abuse, with victims losing a combined sum of $3 billion each year. Individuals defraud the elderly with scams and other deceptive practices that drain their victims’ bank accounts, investments and retirement funds. The victims may end up losing their entire life savings, leaving them destitute and without much direct recourse against the perpetrator.

Working Toward a Solution A campaign led by AARP and ABA Foundation is set to give people and organizations such as banks the tools they need to protect the elderly from financial exploitation. These entities encourage banks to act as the first line of defense in this protective system. In addition to protecting their customers and communities, the banks will also benefit financially by minimizing the amount of funds needing to be covered through the loss prevention department.

Efforts in preventing elder financial abuse start with identifying and educating individuals in notoriously vulnerable groups. For example, elderly people suffering from dementia, or other diseases with cognitive impacts, may struggle with finance management. Their ability to make good decisions regarding finances often declines quickly, along with their health. As a result, they make easy targets for perpetrators who can easily exploit their finances and empty their accounts.

Educating Against Abuse Through the education program, people over the age of 50, caregivers and bank employees can utilize the materials produced by the AARP and ABA Foundation campaign to learn about preventing elder financial abuse. The materials cover fraud prevention practices and smart financial management techniques in great detail. Individuals can utilize specialized tip sheets to actively avoid financial exploitation attempts.

Both entities will continually revise the program to cover newly-developed scams and tactics employed by perpetrators of this type of crime. The written materials will be updated regularly to keep everyone abreast of new financial abuse threats to elders so that all can continually work towards preventing them.

Finding Assistance with Damages Individuals and their caregivers can seek assistance with suspected financial exploitation by talking with an elder abuse lawyer at the law offices of Garcia & Artigliere. These cases often require extensive attention in order to identify the scam type and total damages. By calling 1-800-281-8515, it is possible to stop the monetary damages and seek compensation through the court system. Upon taking the case, the selected elder abuse lawyers will use their knowledge to help victims recover from the effects of financial exploitation and prevent it from happening again in the future.

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